Human Resource Management Analysis: Hilton Hotel Service Industry

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of human resource management (HRM) practices within the service industry, specifically focusing on Hilton Hotels. It begins with an introduction to HRM, emphasizing its role in organizational success, and then delves into a detailed examination of Hilton's HRM functions, including planning and forecasting, recruitment strategies, and employee training and development. The report also explores employment relations within the hotel industry, examining the current state of these relations and the impact of employment laws. Furthermore, it includes a practical component, presenting a job description and person specification relevant to the hotel industry, and compares the selection processes of two organizations. Finally, the report assesses the contribution of training and development programs to the success of the hotel. The conclusion summarizes the key findings, highlighting the importance of effective HRM in the service sector and the specific strategies employed by Hilton Hotels.

Human Resource Management
In
Service Industries

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
1.1 Role and purpose of HRM.....................................................................................................1
1.2 Analysing human resource plans as per demand and supply in hotel industry.....................3
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................4
2.1 The current state of employment relations for the hotel industry..........................................4
2.2 The impact of employment law in the hotel industry............................................................5
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................7
3.1 A job description and person specification for the hotel industry.........................................7
3.2 Comparing Selection process of Two Organization..............................................................8
TASK 4..........................................................................................................................................10
4.1 Contribution of Training and Development........................................................................10
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................11
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................12

INTRODUCTION
Human resource of a company defines the employees and staff of the company working
at different levels and authorities'. It focuses on defining and enhancing the abilities, talents,
knowledge and skills of individuals working for an organization. The concept of Human resource
management can be defined as a systematic process of organizing and managing human
resources efficiently and effectively (Sheehan, Garavan and Carbery, 2014). This plays a crucial
role in both public and private sector.
Every organization whether private or public requires skilled and qualified employer and
employees to achieve its organizational goals. In today's globalization period, the companies and
enterprises are always indulged in providing set standard commodities and services to gain
profits (Mello, 2006). To fulfill this objective, resources like raw materials, machinery and
equipment and human resources is required. This results in growing significance of employees in
the market. Now, HRM supports by procuring, developing and maintaining these human
resources (Jackson, 2011).
The present report will provide a detailed study of importance of HRM for Hilton Hotels.
The global hospitality company owns and manages the broad portfolio of 12 word-class brands
of hotels and resorts for UK. The study will reveal the recruitment, selection process and training
in the given industry along with employee relations and employment laws followed by the
company.
TASK 1
1.1 Role and purpose of HRM
Human resource management (HRM) is one of the key departments of the company as it
aids the firm in managing performance of employee and also supports in boosting their
performance. Beside this, it needs to fulfil certain set of roles so that overall efficiency of hotel
can be increased. In this regard, role of HRM within the context of Hilton Hotel are as follows: Planning and forecasting – HR manager plans to achieve the defined goals in certain
specified period. Planning is the process which focuses on setting up the plans by
identifying the problems in the Hotel and developing effective measures to avid the
adverse impact on the same on the entity. In this, the manager defines ideas and
alternatives to solve problems, choose the best one among all of the ideas, forecast the
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idea before applying it, generate the idea and bring it into existence (Holland and Pyman,
2006). Further, HR manager has to attain the best results in manner to achieve the goals
in specified period to provide high comfort level to the guest and the travellers via all the
service provided by the Hotel. Recruiting – For a hotel industry, HR department demands new joining, and recruits
employees to attain organizational objectives in an efficient manner. . The recruitment is
done through conducting advertising job postings and employee references etc which
helps in making the process effective and active as well. HR department also contact with
the existing workers of the hotel for recruiting seasonal employee so as to overcome the
problem of shortage. This will help in training the new hires and developing them for
organizational growth (Cartwright, 2005). Further, HR is required to recruit the
professionals for Fitness room, Spa and steam room. Training and development – In addition to it, employers need to give proper and
necessary training and development session to employee in order to attain success. The
HR department at Hilton is responsible for this function. In order to carry out this task
organization invites the professional trainers to adjust seasonal hikes. This will help in
giving training to new hires and interns in an effective way (Storey, 2001). On the job
and off the job training is quite effective way to develop recruits. This trains the human
resource of the hotel can handle the requests of guests in a professional manner. This alos
provide them with comfortable and relaxing environment. The company ensures ratio of
1:5 among the trainers and trainees in order to train them while performing the job. Contracts of employment – This is a significant aspect of HR function whereby employee
contract defines clear outlook of roles and responsibilities along with legal contractual
obligations for the hotel staff. It specifies employee's responsibility in brief, time duration
for work, compensation, allowances, incentives, etc. (Bates, 2002).
 Deployment and monitoring employee - Another responsibility of HRM is to check and
monitor employee's efficiency and efforts for best outcomes. The department develops a
base to pay attention to individual performance of employees, Clarifying the liabilities
they are bound to, developing their ability to efficiently develop consumer satisfaction
etc. . Functions related to employee termination are also the part of HR activities.
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1.2 Analysing human resource plans as per demand and supply in hotel industry
HR planning is used by the companies to fulfil the needs of quality and skilled employees
within an organization. It is a challenging action for HR management as it focuses on analysing
the resource gap and develops effective measures to fill the gap. . HR management ensures
staffing needs and determine efficiently and seek well trained qualified employees for the same.
HR planning is the function where the organization seeks the demand within the company and
develops effective measures and strategies to attain those desire (Saunders and et. al., 2007). In
this regard, following is the justification of HR plan that can be used by the mentioned hotel: Assessing the Requirement – It is required to analyse the job via examining the systematic
way of job content and defining its description, i.e. duties and responsibilities, and
specification i.e. qualification required for the job. It specifies the staffing needs and
other management needs required in the company. Responsibility of HR manager is to
assess the workers requirement for the company in current and future time (Wall and
Wood, 2005). The quality and quantity of workers are ascertained by the HR team, the
further step is to start the process of personnel interviews, work sampling, observation,
Questionnaires, etc. Forecasting the demand: Based on analysis of the required employees for the work, HR
team has to forecast the demand for particular position and analyse types of skills and
qualification required for the same. This function also focuses on assessing the number
of job opening as well. By ascertaining the number company could further take steps for
overcoming demand and supply issues. This demands a perfect alignment in HR
functions to keep check on resignation, termination, transfer and promotion, as they also
affect the demand in future (Khan and Sheikh, 2012). Assessing supply: In order to attain skilled and qualified employees in Hilton the
department focuses on supply for the personnel. This can be availed by two factors;
internal (employees already placed in the company) and external (workers hired from
outside the company). Internally, the demand can be fulfilled through promotions,
transfer, performance appraisal, etc. which mostly acts as a motivation point to
employees. Internal recruitment is an effective and risk-free approach for HR planning.
However, External recruitment is effective for attaining skilled and well trained
employees for the company. (Ellinger and Ellinger, 2014). Further, the HR departemnt
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can contact specialist bodies providing such skilled employees. These includes bodies
such as 1st People and BHA which provides specialised services for filling employment
gap within hospitality sector. .
 Development of action plan: Human Resource planning formulation and development
depends on the result of demand and supply outcomes i.e. either surplus or deficit.
Further, steps for action plans by the company can be initiated as by new hiring, training
of personnel, appointing new talents etc., in case of deficit and termination, transfer,
deployment, retirement, etc. in surplus condition. Hence companies focuses on closely
analysing the present market situations and develop action plan accordingly.
TASK 2
2.1 The current state of employment relations for the hotel industry
HRM includes functions of recruitment, counseling, legal conformation and the
compliance of employee relation activities for the company. For the hotel industry, good state of
employment relation is an asset as it is a labor-intensive sector. At Hilton Hotel the HRM
department focuses on compliance, labour laws, hiring and termination policies. The employees
and staff are provided with consultation, empowerment, involvement in organisation and
grievances and disciplinary procedures. . A hotel is a formal organization which focuses on
effectively providing accomodation services to the travellers. It is characterised by petite
affiliation to trade unions and employee organisation. The collective bargaining and negotiations
is not present. There is flexibility in the working structure and culture of the group (Aghazadeh,
2003). There are various departments working hand-in-hand but are following line of authority
and appropriate hierarchy system from higher officials to the lower staff.
 Taking in consideration the employee participation and involvement in the hotel group,
managers promote and encourage every employee and staff member by performance
appraisals. Feedbacks are obtained by the staff to acquire new and innovative ideas. The
HRM team provides consultancy services to the employees in case of any emergency.
Cultural and co-curricular activities are performed to build strong teamwork among
management and staff. Various motivational theories like instinct theory of motivation,
arousal theory of motivation, drive theory of motivation and incentive theory of is applied
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in its premises (Smith, 2014). All these measures bring in empowerment among
employees and better outcomes are achieved by the company.
 Grievance management and procedures are persistent area of study for Hilton hotels in
order to resolve disputes and complaints addressed by the employees, subordinates and
the lower staff. The Department for employee grievance group provides hierarchical
structure for presenting and settling these conflicts within timelines provided. It makes
sure that the complaints made are authentic and scrutinizes the matters till it is solved
completely. After identifying the potential causes of the problem the department takes
corrective measures and solutions (Aral, Brynjolfsson and Wu, 2012). This is done by
framing and establishing policies as well as rules and regulations for working. These
guidelines are communicated to every employee so that they can work according to that
in a group.
 The hotel has a team to deal with the grievances and complaints of the employees and
staff. In the same manner, there is a team to monitor and govern the dealings related to
perceived employee’s misconduct. The disciplinary procedures of the hotel group are
classified into formal and informal processes. At the time of informal proceedings,
actions are not codified, while at the time of formal proceedings the manager follows
rules and norms governed by the Hilton Hotel constitution (Antwi and Analoui, 2008).
2.2 The impact of employment law in the hotel industry
Presence of employment laws in an organisation guarantees fair and safe working
environment for employers and employees. Employers should provide an optimal environment
according to employment law for their workforce while the employees are required to be aware
about their laws and regulations. Hilton Hotel adopts various laws and measures to maintain the
principle of equality within its territory. Following are its employment law: Employment Relations Act, 1999: This act has made significant amendments in UK
labour law in context of trade unions and labour relations act. According to the act, a
statutory body should be framed which are known as trade unions in businesses. The
trade unions are considered important for employees as its members represent the whole
group in front of the management (Hassan, 2007). Under this act, the employees of
Hilton hotels have the right to take leaves for family and domestic purpose and female
employees are granted maternity leave too.
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 Employment Rights Act 1996: Under this act, the employees are given rights dealing
with unfair dismissal, reasonable notice before dismal, redundancy and time off rights for
parenting. Every employee of Hilton Hotel is obliged with an employment contract in the
written format. The contract reveals the code of conduct, terms and conditions applied
and the rights of an employee. This right offers a favourable framework, where the
employee will not suffer indiscrimination on the basis of caste, colour, gender or nation
during recruitment and termination process (Swart, Mann and Brown, 2005). Redundancy Procedures: Situations of redundancy do occur in the company during
recession time and it is a form of dismissal from the job. When the employee of the hotel
group is dismissed from the job he / she is eligible for certain rights like a notice period,
consultation with the respective employer, redundancy pay, time off to find new job and
switch over from the mentioned hotel group. Maternity and paternity rights: UK government overviewed the globalisation scenario
and felt the need of maternity and paternity rights. This right provided benefits of
additional leaves, pay rises, return to work and plan holidays. The employees of hotel
group can now take time off when their partner is having baby, adopting a child or
having a baby through surrogacy arrangement (Hosie and Smith, 2009). Also, their
employment rights are protected while they are on parental leave which includes pay rise
during the session of time off, Plan holidays after the birth of baby and return to work
without termination or retirement.
 Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Services: The hotel group is renowned for its
hospitality and customer relationship and same way the organisational culture follows the
same principle. Implementation of ACAS builds healthy environment among the
management and the staff. It aims to improve the work relation between both the
respective groups to solve problems and to enhance the Hilton Hotel's performance (Reid,
Barrington and Brown, 2004).
TASK 3
3.1 A job description and person specification for the hotel industry
Following is the job description and person specification for appointing receptionist at
Hilton Hotel:
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Job Description: This document specifies the major responsibilities, duties, scope, skills,
abilities and working conditions of a post with its job title. It sets the foundation for recruitment
and selection process.
Job title: Work as the receptionist at Hilton Hotel.
Qualification: Graduation degree from any recognised university or equivalent.
Reporting officer: The receptionist is required to report to the Executive Director.
Scope: He/she is responsible for providing administrative, clerical and secretarial support in an
efficient and effective manner.
Responsibilities: Major responsibilities and duties accomplished by the receptionist are as
follows:
 Receive, direct and hand over telephone and fax messages.
 Pickup and delivery of mails.
 Maintenance of the general filing system.
 Preparing council meetings and conferences.
 Respond to public inquires.
 Monitoring usage of supplies and equipment.
 Coordinating the repair and maintenance of office equipment.
 Provide word-processing and secretarial support.
 Maintain an adequate inventory of office supply.
 Re-direct calls as appropriate and message when required.
 Greet, assist or direct the visitors and the general public.
 Provide word-processing and secretarial support.
 Perform other related duties as required.
 Assist the Executive Director and the other staff. Provide administrative services to the Executive Director.
Person Specification: A person specification outlines skills that a job candidate must have in
order to efficiently work for the tasks assigned. Following are the personal attributes and traits
required for the post of receptionist:
 Knowledge acquired: The mentioned post requires proficient knowledge in the areas of
office administration, understanding and knowledge for the relevant legislation, policies
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and procedures. He/ she should have an understanding of political and cultural
environment of UK's culture.
 Skills sustained: Skills and techniques supports the working pattern in a refreshing and
innovative way. The person for the mentioned post should possess analytical and problem
solving skills. . He should have effective decision making strategies and team building
skills. They should be focused on building stress and time management skills. Further, he
should have a good control over computer skills especially spreadsheet and word
processing programs.
 Personal Attributes: Personal traits really matters for implementing the task to the
employee. These qualities improve and enhance the quality and quantity to perform work.
As a receptionist, the person is required to focus and strong determination towards the
work. The individual should be honest, trustworthy with sound ethical values.. Cultural
awareness and sensitivity is essential component as the post relates to the hospitality
industry where it is demanded the most. Also, the person should be flexible and
compatible with the changing environment.
3.2 Comparing Selection process of Two Organization
Selection is a process in which list of candidates are screened and filtered so that best out
of them can be selected for the vacant places. In this regard, company uses different modes and
techniques so that most skilled and talented candidates are left till end. It is a systematic process
that supports the company in meeting with the HR needs (Abel and Gabe, 2011). However,
selection varies from company to company due to variation in nature of work. In this context,
selection process of HSBC bank and Marriott has been compared.
Selection process at HSBC Bank
HSBC being a banking company has a complex structure of screening in order to recruit
employees which best fits with the objectives of company. In this, CV is shortlisted first by
considering the job description so that only eligible candidates are selected here and remaining is
filtered out. Once it is been done then face to face interview with HR representatives is done in
order to assess the capabilities and communication skills. At this stage only, eligibility test is
conducted in order to gain idea about different aspects of candidates such as IQ, mathematical
skills, problem solving, psychology and other related (Beardwell and Claydon, 2007). This helps
in identifying high score candidates and the same are preceded to the next level. After this,
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reference check and security clearance are arranged so that employees who have sound
background are only selected and the remaining are removed from the selection process. After
this, salary negotiation is done by briefing out the terms of contract and roles. Candidates which
accepts the salary structure are selected for the job role at bank and appointment letter is issued
to them (Armstrong, 2009). With this, selection process ends at HSBC Bank.
Selection Process at Marriott International
Marriott is one of the hospitality giant which operates in different countries. It follows
different selection process as compared to HSBC bank. Here, selection process is initiated with
preliminary interview in which basic information about candidates are collected by HR assistant.
From this, written test is conducted that helps in identifying intellectual level. Test also aids in
assessing the technical knowledge which is required by candidates to fulfil their job roles.
Through this, candidates which scored around 60% are selected for another level where HR level
interview is organized. At this stage, face to face interview in done by HR of the hotel in which
attitude and competency of candidates is judged majorly (Phillips, Stone and Phillips, 2012).
Also, interviewer ensures to check the problem solving approach of candidate. After this,
simulation is done where candidates are asked to show the basic criteria for welcoming guest and
making them comfortable at hotel. This helps in assessing the hospitality skills of applicant so
that best is selected. After this, final interview is organized in which salary negotiation is done
and joining formalities are made.
Considering the selection process of both the company, it is advised that Hilton Stratford
city must adopt the selection process of Marriott hotel as it will best suited for the comany. From
this, This will help the company in selecting competent and skilled employees. From this, the
hotel will be able to offer quality services to guest with the help of skilled and talented
employees. This will aid in attaining business objectives and it will also support in boosting
overall satisfaction level of in-house guests (McGuire, 2010).
TASK 4
4.1 Contribution of Training and Development
Following are the role of training and development within the context of Hilton Stratford City: Train new Recruits to comply with the environment – Training and development is one of
the crucial and most significant part of HR development. It gives benefit to the company
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to instruct the new employeeswork with them in a professional manner .Job training
specifies the job description and specification to the newly appointed employees which
encourages them to cross the initial orientation of the hotel which is limited to the hotel's
policy and employee's benefit (Rothwell and Kazanas, 2003). Training through the
experienced employeeshelps in preparing the fresh recriutsresourceful WHICH may
result in optimum performnce. It will enhance customer satisfactionwhich may prove to
be highly beneficial to the organzation. Adequate and appropriate training enhances the
employee’s potential and shapes their outlook and performance in favour of the company. Improves performance and quality – Training and development programs of Hilton are
planned and developed in order to enhance the capacity and capability of the employees.
Process such as on the job and off the job training are implemented by the organization It
helps in developing the understanding about the job performance and enhance their skills
as well. This helps in enhancing quality of services thus ensures higher satisfaction level
within the market. Achieving the Needs – Through proper development of employees, hotel can achieve its
target in specific areas. Company can easily assess perfromance gap through customer
dissatisfaction and complaints. Training helps the hotel to turn the guest complaints into
satisfaction and appreaciation (Batt, 2002). To achieve these needs, company provides
well planned and effective training by experienced staff for example kitchen training
through professional cook may help the employees in enhancing speed and process
efficiency. Morale and Profitability – Training and development programs within the company helps
the employees in developing effective measures for continuous learning. This results ion
developing their efficiency and helps them in being competent and more efficint.
Moreover, training enhances work performance which helps the employees in developing
high growth prospects within the industry. All the above stated measures helps in
enhancing employee performance and morale thus helping company in attaining a well
trained and qualified workforce. (Pattanayak, 2005).(Fox, 2008).
 Reduction in cost and supervision – Highly trained employees are self reliant, they have
the capability to take self-decision and requires little guidance from the supervisor to
perform any task with positive results. The skilled employees would execute their work
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